1997 Employee Ownership Index Results

An index of publicly traded companies with more than 10% broad employee ownership outperformed all other market indexes for 1997, gaining 32.5% for the year compared to 31.0% for the S&P 500, 22.6% for the Dow, and 29.2% for the Russell 5000. Since the index was first compiled in 1992, it has grown 193% compared to 145% for the Dow and 140% for the S&P 500. The index is an "equal-weighted" measure, meaning each employee ownership company's performance counts equally in the average (a capital weighted approach would weight larger companies more heavily). It is designed to mimic how an investor might approach investing in employee ownership companies.

The index is compiled by American Capital Strategies, a publicly traded investment banking company specializing in employee ownership transactions. It is published every quarter in the NCEO's Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance.